Windows freezing and auto restarting

The two bugcheck signatures point to two different crash patterns:

• P1: 133 = DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION (0x00000133). This is commonly caused by a faulty driver that does not complete work in time.
• Event ID 41 by itself only confirms Windows restarted without a clean shutdown. It does not identify the root cause.
• Unexpected restarts can be caused by hardware, drivers, or software.

Recommended troubleshooting path:

1. Check for minidump files
   • Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Minidump.
   • If dump files exist, use them to identify the failing driver or component.
   • Avoid using a very large Memory.dmp first; minidumps are the better starting point.
2. Review Event Viewer around the failure time
   • In Event Viewer, check the System and Application logs.
   • Look for suspicious events just before the unexpected shutdown time, especially around Event ID 6008.
   • Also note these related events:
     • 41 = unexpected restart without complete shutdown
     • 1074 = an app or user initiated shutdown/restart
     • 6006 = clean shutdown
     • 6008 = unexpected shutdown
3. If the system is rebooting too quickly to show the stop code, disable automatic restart
   • Right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced system settings > Advanced.
   • Under Startup and Recovery, select Settings.
   • Clear Automatically restart.
   • This helps capture the actual stop screen instead of immediately rebooting.
4. Boot into Safe Mode
   • After restart options appear, press 4/F4 for Safe Mode or 5/F5 for Safe Mode with Networking.
   • If the issue does not occur in Safe Mode, that strongly suggests a driver or startup software issue.
5. Check Device Manager for driver problems
   • Right-click Start > Device Manager.
   • Look for devices with an exclamation mark (!).
   • Try Update driver.
   • If that does not help, try disabling or uninstalling the affected device to isolate the issue.
6. Check recent hardware changes
   • If any hardware was added before the crashes started, remove it temporarily and test again.
   • Compatibility issues with newly added hardware can trigger stop errors.
7. Make sure the system drive has enough free space
   • Keep roughly 10% to 15% free space available.
   • Low free space can interfere with swap files and related system functions.
8. Install the latest Windows updates
   • Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update.
   • Select Check for Windows updates.
9. For the 0x133 crash specifically
   • Collect the memory dump and analyze it with Windows Debugger to identify the faulty driver.
   • If the stop screen or dump identifies a driver, disable that driver to isolate the problem, then obtain an updated version from the hardware manufacturer.
10. If freezes happen without a visible BSOD, verify dump configuration

• Advanced troubleshooting guidance indicates checking crash dump settings and ensuring a paging file exists on the system drive.
• Warning: registry changes are risky. Incorrect changes can affect system stability.

Because the machine is showing more than one bugcheck pattern, the strongest next step is to collect and analyze the minidumps and then focus on driver investigation first, especially for the 0x133 DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION entries.

References:

• Advanced troubleshooting for stop code errors
• Advanced troubleshooting for Event ID 41: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first"
• Troubleshooting Windows unexpected restarts and stop code errors
• Advanced troubleshooting for Windows freezes
• Reboot at a random moment - Microsoft Q&A